We all make these new goals and commitments, however, for men; the first commitment should be to schedule an appointment with the doctor. The attached article provides some insight into Men’s Health and Issues.  It states some startling statistics regarding the cost of health care for men as they age due to tendencies to ignore some symptoms, sweep them under the carpet and not to get physicals.  Men’s health behaviors, or lack thereof, cost relatively more in the utilization of benefits, absenteeism and lost productivity.   https://www.benefitscanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/roiOneLife_MENSHEALTH_FINAL_EN_low.pdf Dawne Helischauer / Senior Benefits Specialist / PEO Canada

As the holiday season approaches, stress levels tend to escalate. Many people find that this time of year is not so “jolly” and coping can provide stressors. Here are some ideas that may help you to better deal with these upcoming Holiday pressures. • Don’t leave everything to the week before. Start now and set aside a little time every day to prepare for the holidays. Spacing out errands will help ease the pressure and reduce the likelihood of last-minute panic situations. • Choose wisely on how best to spend your time. Work, personal and family obligations take up most of your day so be selective and only...

The insurance industry in Canada much larger than most people think! According to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (www.clhia.com), the annual premium paid for Life and Health-related insurance rose to over $83 billion in 2012. This includes over $16 billion for Life insurance specifically, and almost $31 billion for health and disability insurance. Based on a national population of 35 million people, that’s almost $2,500 in premium per person, per year! In Canada, it is important to recognize that a significant portion of employees are offered (and covered by) group benefit programs through their employer. In the event that an individual is not covered through an...

As with many other things, employee benefit plans are beginning to see the impacts of the aging Baby Boomer generation. We are seeing an increasing trend in people working longer – some because they have to, but also some because they are healthy enough to do it! This results in several challenges that many employers (both small and large) will need to deal with. Typically, insurance companies have used a “standard” termination age for benefits coverage. Not that long ago, benefits were not available for employees once they reached the normal retirement age of 65; this included termination of group Life insurance, disability insurance (both short- and long-term)...

With the recent flooding that has happened in the province, Alberta Health Services has posted some very helpful information regarding returning to your home after the flood, and also dealing with the emotional side of this natural disaster. The link is posted below: Clare Martin / Benefits Administator / PEO Canada

Group Benefits consistently remain an important item to Employees. What we do know is that employees truly value their benefits programs to the extent that 37% of employees are willing to pay a higher premium in order to maintain their current levels of benefits, according to the 2012 Sanofi Health Survey. So what can we do to ensure employees are able to continue to enjoy their current level of benefits? It all starts with proper employee communication as educated employees make smart consumers and users of benefits programs. A couple of good articles from Benefits Canada are linked below. https://www.benefitscanada.com/benefits/health-benefits/trends-in-health-benefits-for-retirees-37315 Dawne Helischauer / Senior Benefit Specialist / PEO...

An article found on morethanmedication.ca website The College of Family Physicians of Canada reports that 30-40% of adults have some amount of sleeplessness in any given year. If you’re one of them or simply want to get more zzz’s without pills, read on. Everybody needs sleep. That’s a fact. But when it comes to how much, everybody is different: Some wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with a mere five hours; others need a full seven or eight — any less and they forget what the coffee maker looks like. If you feel sleepy during the day, are more irritable or just can’t seem to function like your usual...

Feeling stressed out lately from work or just life issues? The link below explains how going on line can help you with this. https://www.shepellfgi.com/EN-CA/Employees%20and%20Families/Wellness%20Articles/Balancing%20Act/pdf/BDBADec12Cdn.pdf?utm_source=Balance+English+December+2012&utm_campaign=Balance+English+December+2012&utm_medium=archive Clare Martin / Benefits Administrator / PEO Canada

October was Healthy Workplace Month. So much information is now available for us to utilize and better understand what affects us all in the workplace. Benefits Canada has put a great compilation of articles together. Please see the link below for some very interesting reading: Pfizer has an article relating to “The Work Style Pendulum” that can help determine your work style under stress. They also have other stress related articles that may help and offer solutions. http://www.morethanmedication.ca/en/article/index/work_style?&utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=NEID_3037&utm_content=LID_article_work_style Ipsos Reid just recently concluded a study that may surprise you with the findings. They conducted a study of Psychological Health and Safety Concerns in the workplace. More people feel...

With Summer’s end fast approaching, a lot of us tend to wind down our get healthy, outdoor activities, and start getting ready for the new fall lineup on TV. Even though the days are getting shorter, there are still a lot of outdoor activities that we can take advantage of. From going for a run at lunch along one of the river pathways, or for a bike ride around the neighborhood, we can still put in that little bit of effort to maintain some sort of outdoor physical activity. You can visit the City of Calgary website www.calgary.ca to check out what kind of outdoor classes you can...